Missing Mommy Alert: Athena Joy Curry – Atlanta, GA

Athena Joy Curry, along with her friends and family, should be celebrating her 22nd birthday that’s coming up in November. Unfortunately they will not be – Athena has been missing for 16 months.

Athena, affectionately called “Nelz” by her loved ones, moved to Atlanta from Portland, Oregon in 2009 to live with one of her 5 sisters. She graduated from Martin Luther King High that same year. Shortly thereafter, in January 2010, she and her boyfriend, Yusif Mujahid, gave birth to their beautiful and healthy son, King.

What was not so healthy and beautiful was her relationship with Yusif. Their on-again off-again relationship was plagued with abuse. Yusif was arrested for punching her in the face and threatening to sting her with a stun gun. On May 27, 2011, Yusif claims that after a heated argument, Athena stormed out of his apartment located at 1485 Beecher Street in Southwest Atlanta at 3:00 am leaving her most precious pride and joy behind: 16 months-old, King. Athena has not been seen or heard from since.

So where is Athena? A young woman with so much to live for whom shortly before her disappearance enrolls in college just vanishes into thin air. Why did it take her boyfriend 3 days to call the police? Why no activity on her phone, ATM card or Facebook page? Her family says there is no way she would have left her son or not have called her sister or her best friend after this “heated argument.”

“I can’t begin to explain the pain we feel day in and day out…Just not knowing where she is or what has happened to her. We try so hard to stay positive, but with her leaving the baby and not contacting ANYONE or using any finances and/or facebook posts… reality is beginning to set in” – Jerilynn Ledbetter, Sister

Black and Missing but Not Forgotten is an organization dedicated to raising awareness for missing African Americans and addressing the racial disparities in the mainstream media reporting of missing persons of color. To report a missing person case or to keep up-to-date with Black and Missing but Not Forgotten: